Hi, I’m Dr. Egan at Now Hear This, and I’m going to be talking to you about our new oral rehabilitation program called “Five Keys to Communication.”
Now, the first thing you are probably wondering is, what is oral rehabilitation? Well, hearing aids alone can do many things. They have directional microphones to zoom in on what’s in front of you and bring down the sound that’s behind you. They can stream phone calls directly to your ears. They can help enhance the TV so that others don’t have to have the volume as loud. But they can’t restore normal hearing, so there may be times when someone says something, and part of the message is missing. That’s called a communication breakdown.
So, what do we do when we wear hearing aids and there are still sometimes communication breakdowns? That’s exactly what oral rehabilitation is for. During the hearing aid fitting process, we work on oral rehabilitation in person. I always check how you’re doing with your listening needs, and if any specific situations come up that are still challenging, we work through different sorts of strategies and tips to help get the most out of your hearing aids.
Now, oral rehabilitation doesn’t end with the hearing aid fitting process. We are working with a company called Five Keys to Communication, and they will give all of our new hearing aid patients an entire year of online oral rehabilitation. It comes in the form of an email that then takes you to an interactive website. It’s really fun—I’ve already done the first two modules—and it basically helps you learn different strategies for different listening environments, such as lecture halls, theatres, and restaurants.
There are also different tips and strategies for your friends and family that might want to help you hear better in restaurants and communicate more clearly. It provides guidance on what both the listener and the speaker can do to help prevent communication breakdowns.
We just started this program, and we are really excited about it! As always, if you have any questions, give our clinic a call. Our number is 919-256-2898.
I hope you learned a little more about oral rehabilitation, and have a wonderful rest of your day!
